Neu-Ulm/Kallnach – A milestone for Setra buses. Sales of Setra buses, now one of the brands of the Stuttgart-based Daimler AG, began in Switzerland back in 1953. And now the 2000th Setra bus has been delivered to the Swiss Confederation. The owner of the new S 431 DT TopClass 400 double-deck coach is the company Ernst Marti AG in Kallnach, in the Canton of Berne. The milestone vehicle will be used primarily on the bus operator's long-distance holiday routes to Italy and Spain.

The three-axle coach has four-star classification and seats a total of 78 passengers. To complement the vehicle's comfortable interior appointments, which include a multi-channel audio system and an on-board galley kitchen with a 40-cup coffee machine and a microwave oven, Marti AG have invested in ensuring a high level of safety for their passengers. With a range of features that include proximity-controlled cruise control with Active Brake Assist, the Lane Assistant system and an automatic fire extinguishing system in the engine compartment, the 13.89-metre-long luxury touring coach includes all the assistance systems on offer from Setra to help make travelling even safer.

The arrival of the S 431 DT means that the Swiss company now has a total of eight Setra double-deck coaches on its fleet. During the handover ceremony at the company's own bus terminal, Managing Director Heinrich Marti emphasised the very good relationship the company enjoys with the Ulm brand: "Setra's philosophy fits very well with the thinking behind a small business like ours, and we always feel that our views are being taken seriously. In my opinion Setra's flagship model, the S 431 DT, is the product that offers the most complete and best-rounded concept overall, while the total package that it comes with is, quite simply, just right."

Lothar Holder, Head of Sales Setra Buses & Coaches EvoBus GmbH, also underlined the open and constructive cooperation with the Ernst Marti AG company, which operates a total fleet of 40 touring coaches - all of them Setra models: "Since the purchase of the very first Setra S 6 in 1956 our companies have been linked by a strong partnership, if not to say a friendship."

Quality operator with innovative ideas for travel

The company Ernst Marti AG was founded in 1903 and these days offers an attractive programme of travel that also encompasses options to combine coach travel with exclusive flights or cruises. Over the course of the 50-year relationship with Setra, the company has taken delivery of more than 300 touring coaches from Germany. For many years now Ernst Marti AG has also been considered a trailblazer when it comes to luxury interior equipment and appointments. The company worked closely with Setra to drive forward concepts such as a glass roof or offset individual seats for coaches. Heinrich Marti again: "For us, as a provider of quality travel, it is vital that we should be able to turn our ideas into reality in the buses and coaches that we use. The Setra brand provides us with the ideal solutions to allow us to implement our innovations."